FEB 2021 JOURNAL ISSUE # 208
PUBLISHED BY FEDERATION OF RAIL ORGANISATIONS NZ INC :
PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDITOR, SCOTT OSMOND, BY E-MAIL : [email protected]
FRONZ Update 1 Russell Wiseman 3 IN THIS FRONZ Conference 2021 1 News From Our Members 4 ISSUE Hamilton Auckland Commuter Train 2 Classifieds 12 Invercargill Station 2 Future Mainline Excursions 13 Pukekohe Station 3 Picture of the Month 14
FRONZ UPDATE
Over the weekend of February 13 and 14, the FRONZ executive met to review the strategic direction of FRONZ. We had not met face-to-face since March 2020!
The executive looked at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for both the heritage sector and FRONZ itself. We also took a long, hard look at where we are now and how we can make the organisation more appropriate for the needs of our members in the immediate future.
We separated these into two broad areas, firstly those affecting the rail heritage industry as a whole, and secondly those affecting the way FRONZ interacts with our members as well as other external agencies. Prior to the meeting feedback had been sought from our members and this was considered during these discussions.
We considered how to improve member engagement and several ideas were put forward and discussed. Next we dis- cussed whether the present Executive structure should be altered to accommodate the present conditions in the indus- try and considered how new talent could be introduced to our group.
No changes will be made of course before they are fully discussed and adopted by the membership in general.
We also met with Sheena McGuire from Kiwirail. She is Access Provision Advisor and works with our sector when co- ordinating mainline excursion arrangements, as well as managing the Kiwirail “Public Good Fund”. Sheena is the gateway to all interactions with KiwiRail, with the exception of the Heritage Technical Committee who can deal directly with Andrew Hunt as required for engineering issues.
Photo: Margaret Gordon takes the FRONZ team through our SWOT Analysis. From Left: Grant Craig, David Maciulaitis, Guy Wellwood, Margaret, Bruce Shal- ders, Rob Martin (obscured), Clark Simmonds, Mike Anderson. Photo: Jeff Tol- lan. FRONZ CONFERENCE 2021
Following the FRONZ Executive meeting, we can advise we have confirmed that we are going ahead as planned with the 2021 FRONZ Conference at Gisborne from 4-7 June 2021.
We held off making this decision due to the Covid situation and after balancing all the options have made the decision to go ahead with planning for the event.
Plans will be similar to those proposed for 2020, including a run on the Gisborne City Vintage Rail on Sunday afternoon and a visit to the East Coast Museum of Technology on Monday morning.
Conference sessions and accommodation will be at the Emerald Hotel. As usual the sessions will be all day Saturday, Sunday morning and our Annual Awards dinner will be Sunday evening.
Keep an eye on the FRONZ web site at https://www.fronz.org.nz/conferences for more details as they are available.
We expect registration to be available also here from 1 April. JOURNAL IS FOR ALL OF YOUR MEMBERS. PLEASE FORWARD IT TO ALL ON YOUR E-MAIL LISTS
2 LAUNCH DATE FOR HAMILTON-AUCKLAND COMMUTER RAIL SERVICE ANNOUNCED.
From Stuff: 10 February. Tuesday, April 6, has been set as the new launch date for Te Huia, the new Hamilton -Auckland passenger rail service. From day one there will be two return ser- vices on weekdays to get commuters to Papakura in time for the start of the work- day. From Monday to Friday, Te Huia will de- part Frankton at 5.46am and 6.28am, stopping at Rotokauri and Huntly. The return service will depart from Papakura at 4.42pm and 6.25pm. Bee Card fares – also used for Hamilton’s bus services – will be $12.20 from Hamil- ton and $7.80 from Huntly. Cash fares will be available. For the first few months, Te Huia will operate on select Saturdays only, starting with April 17 due to limited availability of the rail track as a result of the ongoing Auckland rail project and Metro maintenance work. Each of the two trains has four carriages with free wifi, air conditioning, heating, a café bar and each will be able to carry 150 passengers. There is a toilet within each carriage and plenty of tables, power and USB points on board to allow for productive working spaces. Waikato regional councillor Hugh Vercoe, who chairs the regional transport committee and the rail governance working group, said he was thrilled to confirm the new start date. “This service will transform public transport and the way people in the Waikato travel between here and Auckland. There’s real opportunity for us to expand the service into the future, opening it up to even more Waikato communities. “All stations are ready to go, and we’ll be holding public open days on March 27 and 28, giving families the chance to walk through the carriages to check out the facilities.” Covid-19 and "fatigue” in some of the tracks in the Auckland area, which needed repairs, resulted in the service being shunted back from an initial early November start date. More information about the service is available at tehuiatrain.co.nz. Photo: Mark Taylor/Stuff
INVERCARGILL BUSINESSMAN BUYS INVERCARGILL RAILWAY STATION
From Stuff: 9 February. Prominent Invercargill businessman Scott O’Donnell is behind the purchase of the former Invercargill Railway Station. HWR Property, of which O’Donnell is a director, has purchased the former railway station on Leven St off the YMCA. The site, including land to the north and south of the building, is about 3500sqm. The purchase was a “punt”, O’Donnell said. “I think it’s one of those key strategic assets we need to do something with, I don’t know what ... we have got no need for it, or use for it, yet.” The 1970s concrete building was structurally strong, though it needed some spouting and roofing work done, he said. Terms were agreed with the YMCA before Christmas and the sale would go through in March. Business was about taking punts, O’Donnell said. “You buy something and see what the market does over time, and see what you can use it for. I haven’t got a use for it right now but it’s a decent asset.” O’Donnell is also the man behind the Invercargill CBD rebuild. YMCA Southland chief executive Vanessa Hughey said it relocated its education and youth services team from the for- mer railway station building to its other YMCA site in Invercargill, in Tay St, about seven months ago. Prior to that, the YMCA had operated out of the old railway station for about 25 years. “It’s a beautiful old building but when it came to running our programmes out of there, it wasn’t fit for purpose for the YMCA. “So we decided we were going to relocate our education programmes to Tay St ... which is a nicer environment for young peo- ple to learn.” The YMCA team was now all under the same roof in Tay St, she said. Photo: Ka- vinda Herath/stuff
3 PUKEKOHE STATION FUTURE
Auckland Transport has told Franklin Local Board it is unable to spend any more money on plans to move the Puke- kohe train station away from its present site. It has already spent $15,000 on a report that found relocating the station is impractical and could cost almost $2.7mil- lion. But the board asked AT to fund further work because its study only looked at moving the building to a new site and making it fit for purpose and building code compliant, and not at other options such as using only sections of the build- ing. AT says its report met the terms of the original request and that, having spent $15,000, it cannot fund further work. However, AT has suggested other ways it can support the board and community to protect Franklin’s rail heritage. The Local Government Act says AT’s purpose is to contribute to an effective, efficient, and safe Auckland land transport system in the public interest. It says while it funded the initial work in good faith, further funding does not contribute to that purpose. The board has been told the size and planned use of the platform means there is little chance of retaining any element of the station on the platform. AT says it is willing to support third-party or board-led work on celebrating Pukekohe’s rail heritage and could provide advice to any design study, save parts of the station during demolition for re-use providing the cost of demolition is not affected, and could incorporate pic- tures that capture the history of rail in the area into a new shelter’s protec- tive coating. The board will liaise on next steps with the Franklin Historical Society and Heritage Forum, which have been advocating for the preservation of the station.
Rail Heritage Trust give the following details of the station. Pukekohe is a standard, but extended, Troup-era class B station, buily in 1913,somewhat modified. It is a tim- ber island-platform structure with ve- randahs on both sides. It has a corru- gated-iron roof, gabled at both ends, and it is clad with lapped or rusticat- ed weatherboards. There is a string of double-hung sash windows along each side. It is unclear to what extent the building has been added to. RUSSELL WISEMAN
Russell Wiseman passed away 21 February aged 93. One of the founding members and chairman of Feilding and Dis- tricts Steam Rail Society for a number of years. Russell was for many years FDSRS driving force and under his lead- ership the Wab ventured far and wide. A detailed obituary to Russell has been published and can be found here.
Photos: Murray Wilson/Stuff
4 NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
These items are obtained from numerous e-newsletters that our member groups publish. Members are welcome to sub- mit these or any other information they would like to share with the wider rail and tramway heritage community by e- mailing to [email protected]
CANTERBURY RAILWAY SOCIETY
From “Branchlines”.
The major infrastructure project started over the holiday period was the track relaying within the Hall of Wheels shelter, which is now home to the DTG locomotives and wagons. The two sidings in the shelter have been removed, old ballast has been dug out and a new hard fill was laid down. At the time of writing, the first new turnout is in place and connected, with the second one requiring several new sleepers.
Right: Pulling the curve to line up with the new turnout to the Diesel Traction Group shelter. Photo: Peter Jenkinson.
The English Electric unit also underwent a transformation over January. The main focus was on the front ends, painted yellow during its 21st century sojourn back to Wellington. These are now back to the classic red ends, as they would have operated in for most of their service life. Also reinstated were the front seats beside the driver’s compartment at each end. D140 has taken another step forward in returning to service. The tanks and cab have been painted and by the time this newsletter is published, the cab should be bolted back into position. Fingers are crossed for a return to steam around the middle of the year.
Above Left: Dm27+D163 at Ferrymead Station with their classic red ends. Photo; David Maciulaitis. Right: D 140, looking complete like a loco once again, after having the top of the cab attached. Taken at the CRS workshop Saturday 6/2/2021. Photo Lauchlan Brady from Facebook. OAMARU STEAM AND RAIL
Congratulations to Ashok who has been certified as Assistant Guard.
5 PLEASANT POINT RAILWAY
From February “Gazette”.
The Museum’s Vintage Movie Cinema proves very popular on steaming days, special tour parties, and the Saturday evening Movie night. The “Road Runner“ and “Thomas the Tank Engine“ cartoons are popular with the young visitors and the vintage, N Z National Film Units 1950 era movie, “The Railway Worker“ and old news reels are popular with the old- er groups. The Saturday evening screening shows a classic movie from the past in the programme, supper follows. Bryan Blanchard is in charge of the cinema since it started operating in 1991. At present the north inside wall of the cinema has been stripped of all its wallpaper by Stewart Frew and Marian Blanchard and a local painter, Alister Rowland from Pleasant Point will be repairing the wall, where needed and then paint- ing it, instead of putting more wallpaper on.
The next Saturday, 7.30pm evening movie night will be held on the 20th February – Main movie to be screened will be a Charter group of 39 children from Çhipmunks in Tim- western classic – “The Gun Fight at O. K. Coral“, a Paramount aru, in our Movie Theatre to see 2 ‘Road Runner ’ colour, 1957 movie, starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. cartoons. Photo: Bryan Blanchard. There will be the usual shorts in the first half and at ½ time, if you want one, the Trumpet ice creams, $1.50 each. Entry is on $2, with a plate for supper. Everyone Welcome.
It looks to this reader as though the admission and ice cream prices are maybe a few decades out of date!!! We love the old format of “shorts” in the first half, interval, followed by the feature movie. Editor.
Visiting other FRONZ railway groups is something we all do when we can. Wayne McClintock, President of Canterbury Railway Society visited the Pleasant Point Railway on 10 January and had an enjoyable and informative visit, welcomed of course by the Pleasant Point team. He took these pictures of the train with locomotive Ab 699 and the railcar RM4 and reported in the CRS newsletter.
STEAMRAIL WANGANUI
From “Mixed Traffic” newsletter.
The Imlay Price loco No 212 is now looking nice and looked great out in the sun over vintage weekend. The head lights have now been put back in and all the body work has now been painted. It also looks great in the cab with all the wires and air lines done in polished copper tubes. Price loco No 149 is now a runner again, we have now attached the new battery knife switch and run new leads. The motor when running now sounds the best it has in ages since we have added the new spark plugs and leads etc. Other maintenance jobs have also carried on, e.g., work on the trolley’s and Guards Van. Photo: Blair Jordan.
6 TRAMWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
From “Tram Tracts” As this issue of Tracts was going to press, we were saddened to hear that the mother of our former President, Graeme Belworthy had passed away. On behalf of the Society, our sincere condolences go out to Graeme at this time. FROM THE TROLLEYBUS SHED As reported in previous issues of Tracts, we have simplified the over- head structure at both ends of the Trolleybus shed. This will make the overhead lighter and not put so much stress on the poles that support the overhead. It also lessens the risk of stalling on dead sections or dewiring. Since then, Larry Day, assisted by others, has gone through the whole of the depot area taking out all the kinks and imperfections in the contact wire. The main running wires at the front of the shed have been readjusted to final tension and the depot connec- tion is also about to receive the same treatment. In doing the rebuilding of the overhead all the bolts clamps and other fittings are treated with copper With the trolleybus overhead now approaching the stage where it could be cote or zinc paint which will make it tested, the Post & Telegraph Society’s Ford Jailbar tow vehicle has arrived at easier to undo should this be neces- the Tram Barns with Christchurch 210 for mechanical attention and to trace an sary in the future. unwanted electrical ‘leak’. Photo: Jonathan Day.
Readers of “Journal” are reminded that Trolley Bus system at Ferrymead is the ONLY such system remaining in New Zealand. Editor. MORNINGTON 103 – TIME FOR A ROOF SHOUT? Society Editor, Alastair Cross received the following email from Don McAra: Attached are three pics in which Bill Perry is removing G-clamps from the now almost complet- ed outer roof rail of Mornington 103. Due to lack of a spreader bar when 103 was origi- nally brought to THS from Cromwell this rail and much of the roof was smashed. We hope to install the rebuilt clerestory roof on top of 103 soon. It's all one step at a time! Also during the holiday break, Don re- ceived an email from the foundry team at A & G Price of Thames, informing him that all four wheels had been cast and were now undergoing stress relief before machining. It is hoped that the wheels will be delivered sometime this month.
Above: Bill Perry at work, removing the G-clamps fromMornington 103’s roof rail. Also visible are 103’s reinstated front aprons and parts of the window frames – it’s starting to look like a real cable car again! Two photos: Don McAra.
Right: All I want for Christmas is… four shiny new wheels, and that is what Mornington 103 will get, courtesy of A & G Price’s foundry in Thames. The above photo was kindly supplied by Price’s Mechanical Engineer, Chris Harison, and was passed on to us by Don. We now eagerly await the finished product!
7 AUCKLAND DOCKLINE TRAM
From Facebook The iconic Auckland Dockline Tram is back on track per- forming its well versed 1.5km loop of Wynyard Quarter. The tram will operate on Sundays, from 10am-4pm. It will be in action for the remainder of the 36th America’s Cup, and beyond. The tram will take passengers along Jellicoe, Halsey, Gaunt and Daldy streets whilst providing live commentary on the sights, attractions, and history of the area. The cost of travelling on the tram will be deliberately kept low, with all-day tickets priced at $2 for an adult and $1 for a child. Seniors with a SuperGold Card and under-five -year-olds will ride for free. Running the tram will be a joint project by Panuku Devel- opment Auckland and MOTAT (Museum of Transport and
GLENBROOK VINTAGE RAILWAY
The logs are destined for Mount Maunganui for export. The logs from around Franklin are being loaded via GVR at Fernleigh, then moved by GVR to Glenbrook, picked up by KR on the end of an export coil train from Mission Bush and straight to Mount Maunganui.
PAHIATUA RAILCAR SOCIETY
From Facebook
A great start has been made on the major task of removing graffiti from RM 18. A huge thanks goes out to the locally based Coopers Strip Club from Woodville https://coopersstripclub.com who sponsored the clean up on one side of the engine bay area and volunteered their own time and product to produce a great result. Coopers Strip Club are very well known for making one the most effective paint stripper products on the market and we were very impressed as seeing the layers of paint dissolve in seconds. Photos: Doug Johnston.
8 WAIMEA PLAINS RAILWAY
From Facebook Some photos from our December Running Weekend. Thanks to Anne from Got It In One Photography.
TARANAKI TRAIN RIDES PROVING POPULAR THIS SUMMER
From Stuff: 18 January. The year is off to a great start for Taranaki train enthusiasts. The Waitara Railway Preservation Society is filling up their extra trips this summer, and said they had a busy weekend – de- spite the occasionally miserable weather. Society secretary treasurer Derek Baker said the Waitara to Lepperton train rides started up in 2003 and take place every first and third Sunday of the month, with a slower period during winter. This time of year the society puts on extra trips and keep people updated through their Facebook page, he said. “We were starting to turn people away.” Baker said the train attracts young families, the older generation who are nostalgic, and shows people parts of the countryside they can’t see from the road. Plus, it's a piece of Taranaki history, Baker said. The original railway line, which ran between Wai- tara and New Plymouth, was opened in 1875. “It’s the oldest railway line,” he added.
Photos: Glenn Jeffrey/Stuff
9 NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM OF NEW ZEALAND
From Facebook. Tr 190 was built at Hillside Railway Workshops as builders’ number 457 in Dunedin in December 1977 and was the final locomotive built at a New Zealand railway workshops to be put into service. Her sister engine No.966 carries a later builder’s number of 458 but our Tr was the last introduced into service in Janu- ary 1978. The locomotive is owned by the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand but is on long term loan to the NRMNZ. In 2014 the NRM received a generous grant from the Rail Heritage Trust to carry out some remedial work on the body and in Sep- tember that year the locomotive was trucked out to Mainline Steam’s depot at Sockburn for a cosmetic restoration. Continuing with the photos of the Rail Heritage Trust owned TR 190 (TMS 943) on long term loan to the NRMNZ. These recent photos of the cosmetically restored locomotive were taken by Canterbury Railway Society member Lauchlan Brady, at Mainline Steam's home for the last few years at Sockburn. This shows the locomotive both inside the shed and as it was prepared for lifting by Crane and Mechanical Ltd onto the truck for transport to the museum site at Ferrymead Historic Park. Again, the NRM committee would like to thank the team at Mainline Steam for the great job in restoring the locomotive, including in particular Mike Tobin and Jessy Blunsdon.
LITTLE RIVER STATION TRUST
Some photos taken on a recent visit by Lauchlan Brady from Facebook.
VICTORIA BATTERY TRAMWAY AND MUSEUM
Some pictures of a FRONZ member we don’t see very often taken on a recent visit by Mark Kreling. The passenger train isn’t showing as it only runs in weekends.
Two more fully booked trips ran to Hindon and Waitati respectively on 31 January.
Left: Service 1905 leaving Dunedin for Hindon. Right: Service J015 at Waitati on the return to Dunedin. Photos: Tony Cameron
LUMSDEN HERITAGE TRUST
From Facebook. This P Class cab retrieved last year during the V’s recovery at Mararoa is heading to a new home. Thanks to Wayne at Southland Machine Hire Services. Look forward to following its progress.
WEKA PASS RAILWAY
From Facebook 17 January.
Thank you to everybody that enjoyed a ride on our heritage railway this weekend. We hosted 313 pas- sengers on three busy trains - our inaugural Summer Twilight Special and two of our regular Sunday Public Trains. Also, a big thank you to the committed volunteers who help make it happen. The Summer Twilight Special at speed with a pho- tostop alongside McCaskeys Dam - Dg791 is in full noise at notch 10 with young Mick at the throttle. The Teviotdale Hills make for an impressive backdrop in
Kingston Flyer set for return Otago Daily Times, 15 January 2021 The owners of the Kingston Flyer have applied for resource consent to run the heritage steam train as a commercial operation, but have no timeframe for starting the venture. Kingston Flyer Ltd applied to the Queenstown Lakes District Council last week to operate daily passenger excursions on its 14km line between Kingston and Fairlight, but expects to start with chartered trips for private events only. Invercargill engineer Neville Simpson, who is leading the train’s restoration team for the owners, told the Otago Daily Times no timeframe had been set because much work still needed to be done. "We want to make sure we’re in a very good position to run a successful operation," Mr Simpson said. One of the two engines was in good operating order, while the other was awaiting restoration. Two carriages had been restored and work was under way on a third. However, a lot of track repairs needed to be completed. "One of the reasons everything’s not happening very quickly is that we’re relying on volunteers, and they’ve got full-time jobs as well." However, the Kingston Flyer would operate commercially again, he said. "It’s been saved and kept in Kingston, and that was the main thrust of the effort from the start." The consent application states the train would operate on a private charter basis at first "because of the restrictions on tourists entering the country due to Covid-19". "When it is commercially feasible, the Kingston Flyer may start to operate on a timetable basis as a commercial tourist attraction." It would then operate up to three daily trips from Kingston to Fairlight and return, all year round. Last September, the Environment Court issued an interim decision allowing for the operation of the train for restoration and maintenance activities without the need for a resource consent. The Kingston Flyer, named for a passenger train that ran from 1878 until 1957, operated off and on as a heritage train attraction between 2003 and 2013. In 2011, after a three-year hiatus, it was revived by the late David Bryce, who spent $1.3million restoring the engines and carriages before relaunching the operation. But it ran for only two summers and was mothballed until a group of Auckland-based investors bought the train and as- sociated land and buildings in 2017.
Photo: Great Rail Journeys.
12 CLASSIFIEDS
STEAM INCORPORATED STAFF Steam Incorporated is a long-established licenced rail operator in the heritage rail and tourism industry. Our rail vehicles include steam locomotives, diesel locomotives and a large fleet of carriages. Trains made up of these vehicles are run on the National Rail System. All restoration, maintenance and inspection work is undertaken to extremely high stand- ards at our depot at Paekakariki. We are seeking a versatile person to join the busy team. This is an interesting “hands- on” job. Position Title: Rail Vehicle Restoration, Maintenance and Servicing personnel. The ideal applicant must: - Be a qualified/experienced fitter turner (who is familiar with the use of manually controlled machine tools). - Be a qualified welder, or be prepared to re-validate a lapsed certification. - Have proven practical experience in a heavy engineering environment (not necessarily railways). - Be able to understand technical drawings and procedures. - Have good interpersonal and communications skills. - Be able to work well as an individual, or in a team of full-time depot staff and/or volunteer workers. - Have initiative, self-motivation, and a practical/methodical approach to problem solving. - Be excellent at multi-tasking and, occasionally, working under pressure. - Be focused on quality and safety. - Be able to pass a pre-employment drug test. Please take the time to read through the full listing through the below TradeMe Jobs link. https://www.trademe.co.nz/.../kapit.../listing/2971436727... MAINLINE STEAM TANK WAGONS
Mainline Steam have several Tank Wagons for sale. located in Plimmerton. Offers accepted for all or any tank wagon. Contact Grant Bradley [email protected]. Phone: 027 4428 772. Clockwise from top left: UC15 class tank wagon. UC 1234. TMS number 1495. Uc class tank wagon. UC 1349. TMS number 2851. UC15 class tank wagon. UC 1256. TMS number 1783 however known as 1483. Uc class tank wagon. UC 1624. TMS number 3429. Uc2 class tank wagon. UC 877. TMS number 784.
OAMARU STEAM AND RAIL
For Sale: we have some 8 metre hardwood power poles $225.00 each or make us a deal for the lot.
Contact [email protected].
13 FUTURE MAINLINE EXCURSIONS
This feature in Journal is a list of forthcoming mainline excursions by our members. Hopefully all are covered from newsletters and web sites but if any members have excursion plans please send them to Journal at scottos- [email protected].
Glenbrook Vintage Railway 9-21 April 2021 “East N West” North Island Rail Tour. Napier, New Plymouth and Central North Island.
Steam Incorporated
14 March 2021 Ekatahuna Express. Paekakariki to Ekatahuna return. Diesel. 24 April 2021 Anzac Express. Paekakariki to Waiouru return. Diesel. 9 May 2021 Heartland Flyer. Paekakariki to Woodville return. Steam. 30 May 2021 Kapiti Family Express. Paraparaumu to Paekakariki shuttles. Steam. 12 June 2021 Crafty Feilding. Paekakariki to Feilding return. Steam.
Gisborne City Vintage Railway Gisborne to Muriwai 14 March 2021 3,4 April 2021 26 April 2021 9 May 2021 5 June 2021 24 October 2021
Feilding & Districts Steam Rail Society Inc
21 March 2021 Palmerston North to Napier return. 27 March 2021 Feilding to Wellington via Wairarapa return via Manawatu. 10 April 2021 Feilding to Wellington via Wairarapa return via Manawatu. 18 April 2021 Feilding to Taumaranui return.
All trips Kiwirail “Capital Connection” carriages and locomotives.
Pahiatua Railcar Society
5-8 March 2021 Taranaki including local shuttles on 6,7 March. 28 March 2021 Manawatu Gorge Shuttles.
All trips on RM31.
Dunedin Railways Dunedin Railways running some limited summer services to Hindon and Waitati each Sunday until 28 March 2021. For details go to Dunedin Railways.
14 PICTURE OF THE MONTH
Two photos from D.L.A. Turner this month.
He writes: “I had made a special trip up from Ashburton to photograph them before they finished. Chased it from Napier to Wairoa and then back next day. Had to overnight in Wairoa because my headlights suddenly would not work when dimmed, only on high beam! That was rather annoying to others and danger- ous too. By a strange twist of fate, it is 121 that is being “remade” at Pahiatua. It would have been one of its final runs. Luckily, it was nice and clean and the weather sunny too! The main image is at Kotemaori with Da 1500. The Inset is above Blacks Beach.
******* FRONZ CONFERENCE GISBORNE ******* ******* 4—7 JUNE 2021 *******
FRONZ JOURNAL # 208 WAS PUBLISHED ON 27 FEBRUARY 2021 CONTENTS MAY BE REPUBLISHED WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT